I know reading comprehension isn't your strong suit, but way to jump to the pro-gov't position with no facts.

At Blue Shield of California, based in San Francisco, reserves have jumped 77% since 2006 from $2.2 billion to $3.9 billion in September. That has outpaced the company's 19% growth in annual revenue since 2006.

Blue Shield said its reserves have nothing to do with rate increases, and that money has been put aside for the future benefit of its policyholders.

"Reserves are needed to ensure our members' claims can be paid no matter what," said Blue Shield spokeswoman Lindy Wagner. "We need them to protect against uncertainties like a pandemic or another crisis."

The company also expects higher costs from an influx of new customers under the federal healthcare law in 2014.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime change in the healthcare market that will bring a lot of volatility, and we need higher reserves for that," Wagner said.

Even with these proposed rate increases, Blue Shield said, it expects to lose money in the individual insurance market in 2013.

I didn't jump to any conclusion except that you didn't read the article I said "Did you read the article or just jump on the headline? These guys are sitting on a $3.9 billion surplus. They are required (minimally 275 million). Hell it's had to return $520 million to customers the past 3 years because of the 2 percent profit rule."

There wasn't a single fact that I posted that wasn't in the article you linked, you dumb shit.

I didn't jump to any conclusion except that you didn't read the article I said "Did you read the article or just jump on the headline? These guys are sitting on a $3.9 billion surplus. They are required (minimally 275 million). Hell it's had to return $520 million to customers the past 3 years because of the 2 percent profit rule."

There wasn't a single fact that I posted that wasn't in the article you linked, you dumb shit.

You cherry picked the pro-gov't part of the article in defense of O'care. I expect nothing less from an uneducated zombie like yourself.

Obamacare = rising healthcare costs. You - They make too much profit!!!

I didn't jump to any conclusion except that you didn't read the article I said "Did you read the article or just jump on the headline? These guys are sitting on a $3.9 billion surplus. They are required (minimally 275 million). Hell it's had to return $520 million to customers the past 3 years because of the 2 percent profit rule."

There wasn't a single fact that I posted that wasn't in the article you linked, you dumb shit.

How are your facts related to his point in a way that makes you wonder if he read the article?

__________________

“The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.” - Hillary Clinton

Health insurance premiums may as much as double for some small businesses and individual buyers in the U.S. when the Affordable Care Act’s major provisions start in 2014, Aetna Inc. (AET)’s chief executive officer said.

While subsidies in the law will shield some people, other consumers who make too much for assistance are in for “premium rate shock,” Mark Bertolini, who runs the third-biggest U.S. health-insurance company, told analysts yesterday at a conference in New York. The prospect has spurred discussion of having Congress delay or phase in parts of the law, he said.

“We’ve shared it all with the people in Washington and I think it’s a big concern,” the CEO said. “We’re going to see some markets go up as much as as 100 percent.”

Bertolini’s prediction is at odds with Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will have little effect on small and large-employer plans and the Obama administration’s projections that middle-class families will actually save money. The 2010 law is expected to extend health care to about 30 million people who otherwise couldn’t get insurance, paid for by new taxes and fees on companies and wealthier individuals.

Those taxes will make coverage more expensive for insurers, as will other provisions such as a ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing medical conditions, Bertolini said. Premiums are likely to increase 25 percent to 50 percent on average in the small-group and individual markets, he said, citing projections by his Hartford, Connecticut-based company.
High Estimate

The one-time jump in rates also includes increases in costs that would come even without the law, Bertolini said.

“That just seems silly,” said Gary Claxton, a vice president at Kaiser Family Foundation, a Menlo Park, California- based nonprofit that studies health issues. “I can’t imagine anything going on in the small-group market that would change the average premium that much. On the individual market, there’s arguments for things changing, but those magnitudes seem high.”

The Obama administration said last year that “middle-class families” buying insurance through the law’s new online exchanges may save as much as $2,300 a year starting in 2014. Nick Papas, a White House spokesman, declined to comment on Bertolini’s predictions.

The CBO estimated in 2009 that the law will increase premiums 10 percent to 13 percent for individuals and have little effect on small and large-employer plans. After the subsidies are factored in, individual bills will go down by about 60 percent, the agency predicted.

About 43 percent of people who buy on the exchanges, or individual markets outside of them, won’t be eligible for subsidies, according to the report. They would see premium increases “somewhat less” than 10 percent to 13 percent, CBO predicted.

You cherry picked the pro-gov't part of the article in defense of O'care. I expect nothing less from an uneducated zombie like yourself.

Obamacare = rising healthcare costs. You - They make too much profit!!!

Your entire premise was that Obamacare was pushing businesses to the point that they cant offer healthcare. This is not the case as they're still raking in the cash. They've increased their reserves to an amount that is not necessary. The Blue Cross and Blue shield association states that it must have 375% of their risk in reserve yet they have 1092%. They've still made profit on top of that (so much so that they had to return 520 million to the customers) and yet they're still going to raise their rates an average of 12%. How exactly is that running them out of business and pushing us into a single payer model?

Your article states nothing of this and the only reference to rising healthcare costs is made by a company who is justifying a rate increase with maximum legal profits and 3 times the required amount of risk in reserve(and that number is the company mandated which is much, much higher than the govt mandated one)

I give you facts and you call them cherry picked. You offer an opinion (which isn't proven by this article).

Your entire premise was that Obamacare was pushing businesses to the point that they cant offer healthcare. This is not the case as they're still raking in the cash. They've increased their reserves to an amount that is not necessary. The Blue Cross and Blue shield association states that it must have 375% of their risk in reserve yet they have 1092%. They've still made profit on top of that (so much so that they had to return 520 million to the customers) and yet they're still going to raise their rates an average of 12%. How exactly is that running them out of business and pushing us into a single payer model?

Your article states nothing of this and the only reference to rising healthcare costs is made by a company who is justifying a rate increase with maximum legal profits and 3 times the required amount of risk in reserve(and that number is the company mandated which is much, much higher than the govt mandated one)

I give you facts and you call them cherry picked. You offer an opinion (which isn't proven by this article).

You go on with your uneducated zombie schtick though.

Wow, you are dense. So BS of CA is the only business in this country? It's all business you ****ing dolt. The goal of Obamacare is to make healthcare so expensive for employers that they will stop offering it. They only choice will then be Single Payer.

How are your facts related to his point in a way that makes you wonder if he read the article?

Because the article only mentions one company who is maxing out profits and is greedily raising their rates. This company is well within a good profit without raising their rates. They are doing this on their own.

Wow, you are dense. So BS of CA is the only business in this country? It's all business you ****ing dolt. The goal of Obamacare is to make healthcare so expensive for employers that they will stop offering it. They only choice will then be Single Payer.

If you need someone to translate this for you, I understand.

I think you might need a translator. Your article is about BS of CA who is acting independent of other BS requirements. You call me dense when you take the actions of 1 independent company (that I've seen no other corresponding moves among other independent companies of Blue Shield) and extrapolate that to apply to every other company in the country with an intended hidden agenda?

hotair.com. How appropriate--as if rates wouldn't go up anyway, as they have been for the last 40 yrs

Linda Lovelace is impressed by your lack of gag reflex.

This shitstorm is about to arrive.
Obama has no idea what problems his plan will cause. He's got a plan that sounds great to his voting block but will be an absolute shit sandwich for the rest of us in the real world.

Your entire premise was that Obamacare was pushing businesses to the point that they cant offer healthcare. This is not the case as they're still raking in the cash. They've increased their reserves to an amount that is not necessary. The Blue Cross and Blue shield association states that it must have 375% of their risk in reserve yet they have 1092%. They've still made profit on top of that (so much so that they had to return 520 million to the customers) and yet they're still going to raise their rates an average of 12%. How exactly is that running them out of business and pushing us into a single payer model?

Your article states nothing of this and the only reference to rising healthcare costs is made by a company who is justifying a rate increase with maximum legal profits and 3 times the required amount of risk in reserve(and that number is the company mandated which is much, much higher than the govt mandated one)

I give you facts and you call them cherry picked. You offer an opinion (which isn't proven by this article).

You go on with your uneducated zombie schtick though.

Wow. You're really confused by all these facts.

__________________

“The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.” - Hillary Clinton

Because the article only mentions one company who is maxing out profits and is greedily raising their rates. This company is well within a good profit without raising their rates. They are doing this on their own.

The question you should be asking is whether or not the line of business for which they're seeking a rate change is profitable and if so, how profitable. They shouldn't be required to subsidize this line with profits from another line.

Beyond that, you shouldn't be using government mandated minimum reserves as a benchmark for adequacy. In light of the government-enabled financial crisis we just experienced, it seems like a good thing if private financial institutions are opting for more than bare minimum precautions.

__________________

“The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.” - Hillary Clinton

I think you might need a translator. Your article is about BS of CA who is acting independent of other BS requirements. You call me dense when you take the actions of 1 independent company (that I've seen no other corresponding moves among other independent companies of Blue Shield) and extrapolate that to apply to every other company in the country with an intended hidden agenda?

That's the stupidest shit I have ever heard.

He's not doing that. The idea that employers are going to quit buying insurance for their employees because policy prices continue to rise rapidly and the reference to BS of California who is seeking a rate increase are two different aspects of the same problem from opposite sides of the fence.

__________________

“The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.” - Hillary Clinton